Most of the established presidential candidates have run videos on their websites and at YouTube to announce their candidacies. Now comes competition from a 10-year-old girl, a single issue candidate whose videos have also run as TV ads on CNN and CNN Headline News.
Susie Flynn is actually a fictitious 10-year-old created by Fallon/Minneapolis, the agency behind the campaign from the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), whose goal is to promote children’s health insurance. In the videos, Susie bemoans the fact that nine million American children are uninsured and claims she is running for president in support of the issue.
Citizens can “vote” for her by signing a petition at ElectSusie.com in support of children without insurance.
“The objective was to create intrigue around her and her cause,” said Simon Roseblade, a Fallon copywriter. “We wanted it to grow organically, so we started it off online.” The campaign began in February with videos playing at YouTube and a new one added each week. The TV spots started April 2.
The videos were shot in Washington D.C. near the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and on the streets in front of a motorcade during the State of the Union address. “We produced a wealth of footage,” said Fallon’s producer Michael Aaron. “We did one shoot for a couple of days and ended up with several hours of footage. We’re editing the spots now and have run eight videos so far.”
The spots show Susie discussing the insurance issue in the nation’s capital, the perfect place for discussing a political issue and announcing a bid for the presidency.
Susie was found at a casting call in Minnesota that was conducted at schools. “We weren’t looking for a professional actor, we wanted a normal girl with genuine excitement,” Aaron said.
The spots were directed by Barbara Kopple for Nonfiction Spots/bicoastal. Kopple is the Academy Award-winning producer and director of Harlan County USA and American Dream. “There was a lot of excitement on Barbara’s end,” Aaron said. “She identified with the cause and was passionate about it.” Kopple shot the spots in documentary style with a Panasonic HVX200 camera.
The spots played online before they aired on TV, and ElectSusie pages were created at Facebook and MySpace.
The video and Internet campaign will promote “grass roots organizing,” according to Nayyera Haq, a CDF spokesperson. She said the organization hopes to collect nine million signatures that will be used to support The All Healthy Children Act, a bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA).
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More